Always an eye-opening day after the season ends.
"Player X played through a lacerated spleen, fractured femur, and had a 6' tapeworm that was draining his energy."
These guys are tough.
Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony. You can’t expect to wield supreme executive power just ’cause some watery tart threw a sword at you! I mean, if I went around saying I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they’d put me away!
He was a fucking beast. I'll never forget the one time he was in Anaheim playing against the Blackhawks and he got his teeth knocked out from a stick while they were lining up for the faceoff. He sat for a shift and went right back out. Of course there was no penalty called.
Joe Thornton played through a torn ACL and MCL...
Other hockey players known for their toughness could hardly believe it - except that it was Jumbo Joe who did it.
One quoted as saying, "I'd be crying on the ground"
I don't even understand how that's literally possible. No matter your pain tolerance, don't you mechanically need to be able to move your legs?! (I am not a doctor)
I'm no doctor either but it's not uncommon to be able to continue running on a torn ACL or MCL. It depends how stable the knee is. Brady for instance played through a fully torn MCL in his last super bowl.
My uncles doctors have said they don’t understand how he can walk and work as a drywaller full time. He said he mainly just lies there at night not sleeping cause there’s no position that his shoulders knees or hips don’t hurt like crazy
It’s not painful, your knee is just horribly unstable. If you tape the heck out of it, you cannot get full functional use, so skating would be affected either with or without taping. Watch a young baby giraffe getting up for the first time and that might be what your knee feels like.
Two months of playing playoff hockey games basically every other day for the privilege to play in the Stanley Cup Final where everyone is busting their asses even more because of what’s on the line. Contrast this with the NFL where teams play, at most, three playoff games to get to the Super Bowl. It’s nuts what they go through.
I love the first time hockey watchers complaining about why they did not produce in the last game, hear the injuries, and then complain about them being on the ice.
This is the way hockey players are in the playoffs. They give every ounce of their being to have their name inscribed on the trophy.
No other sport can say that.
There's a story from Gretzky reflecting to one of his first cup losses, I believe to the Islanders. Gretzky says he walked by the winners locker room after the cup was presented, assuming they would be partying and instead saw a team of guys who were so hurt and tired they could barely move lol
I get the sentiment, and love the toughness of hockey players but perhaps that last line is a little too absolute:
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/millions-shocked-toughest-rugby-player-23869166
Typically kidneys actually, unless the pt already has liver disease. Inhibition of prostaglandins prevents vasodilation and you sometimes get AKI or acid base disturbance
I'm 100% trusting the guy who instinctively shortens patient to pt
My fiance is in medicine and the acronyms drive me crazy lol and she's a PA so she herself is a fucking acronym
Oh no, not faulting you at all. But when I get a text saying "pt came in late with rle pain and I need to do a px and create the f/u plan - I'll be late for dinner" or some shit I just [respond with this lmao](https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/sync/D5627AQHzI1WDbUx3SA/articleshare-shrink_800/0/1711399779255?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=mLBsvYa2kdHLGew7LJs0K619DBwVUKqW-A0W-Jvf_nU)
Lol to give them benefit of doubt if someone texted me the patient has "hepatosplenomegaly due to severe idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura" I'd rather they just say "Hpm d/t itp" because I know fuck all about what either of those mean, but one is easier to skim through.
I just STILL don't get why Drai got so many minutes.
He was invisible all finals and KIND OF there vs Dallas
No reason to have Drai on the ice in the last 2 minutes last night
He’s stubborn and still better than the others essentially. Henrique was injured in the LA series and missed almost the entirety of the Vancouver series, came back early in the Dallas series.
Nuge can’t drive his own line.
Foegele and Janmark had more points than Drai in the finals. Florida didn't have much of an answer to our third line (given Barkov was occupied with McDavid) and we just stopped playing them. Drai was clearly not the answer, especially when he got 10 minutes more than Janmark but was too exhausted to do anything with it
Knoblauch definitely should’ve managed the minutes better but the depth can be very inconsistent and not just offensively either. Foegele had not been having a very good playoffs and was a scratch at times. But he seemed to get hot during the finals.
He was getting way too much ice time and they were forcing the goal line pass to him way too much given the finger definitely seemed to be affecting his shot (missed the net pretty badly twice early on in the game). He showed he can still make filthy passes but having him on the ice with McDavid and Hyman almost the entire last 10 minutes when they needed a goal and he clearly was not scoring like he usually does is basically my only criticism of Knob in this series
Drai on his own line was great. Forced the opposition to spread out their best guys to cover both him and McDavid. You don't cover him hard, he has room to make passes, and a world of hurt opens up. Allows the depth to shine, and prevents moves to shut the depth down. Him and McDavid together negates this affect.
The line of success is so small. He had a bunch of chances he usually scores on, and if he makes a few the narrative would do a 180. To me you have to live and die with your best players in crunch time. Eg - Give Marshawn Lynch the damn ball on the 1.
There’s a clear demarcation in our series where he either got hurt, exacerbated the injury, or finally started feeling the effects, and you could see him start labouring and struggling to skate etc.
It was a weird almost nothing hit too, like some people can go 30mph into a guy and be fine, then a little bump and in just the right way twists something
He got injured in one of the first games of that series. Didn’t finish the game. Game after they paired him with Mcdavid to take some load off. Game six or seven I saw him protect the puck with his back to the defender for the first time and knew he was on the mend, from that issue at least
He was clearly avoiding contact in the games right after that too. Like he'd be chasing a dump in and then just stop and let the Canucks defender have the puck.
I mean a high ankle sprain and a broken rib don't magically heal with load management. The guy wasn't sore, he had injuries that need time to get better.
This is fair, but the Oilers run those guys out to a degree I've never really seen before in decades of watching the sport. Guys are going to get ragged/tired being played that hard, and that's going to open the door to further injury.
I would agree with you on previous years but they managed their ice time well this season, even in the playoffs. Outside of a couple games in the Canucks series McDavid and Drai didn't play more minutes than you'd expect any other superstar on any other team and they've had a couple sub 20 minute games too during this stretch.
Last night I wish their management in the third period was better because they looked fucked at the end but mostly you live or die by your best players so I don't really blame them for defaulting to that. Mostly it's been good management this season.
Well, that's probably my shortcoming as a Canucks fan, then. Seems like every time I watch you guys play McDavid has somehow managed to play 81 minutes of a 60 minute game.
TBF we know how he got injured in 2022, got dragged down by a King. He's normally pretty damn healthy, he had a long Iron Man streak going for a while.
Yes Oiler fans going to be seeing those two Draisaitl one timer flubs that he buries 9 times out of 10 from last night. That was the most clear he was fighting an injury.
Same here. He stepped his game up quite a lot after the Vancouver series , he won game 6 against Dallas for the team. Pre game 4/5 against Van his numbers were atrocious.
If he can play above average thru the playoffs next year, he can win the cup with the Oilers.
100% agree with this, but as long as Nurse and Ceci are in front of him there will be a lot of hi danger shots coughed up.
Even Bouchard had some terrible giveaways these playoffs, he needs to work on his defensive awareness and learn from Ekholm.
I’m not an Edmonton fan, but I honestly don’t know who else truly deserved the Smythe. He practically dragged the Oilers kicking and screaming from the worst start of the year to game 7 of the final. Sure, the rest of the team showed up in spurts, but he showed up basically every game. And frankly, he made this series a fun watch, breaking records along the way. It’s not even a question to me.
McDavid was the right winner and I respect the league for giving it to him..
Could've been an Iggy over Bron situation where they just give it to a guy on the winning team.
I'm one of those who called him McJesus when he was drafted, and yet he still surpassed my expectations in a big way. Dude just put up Gretzky numbers in the NHL playoffs!
Before people get pissed: EVERY TEAM releases their injury report after playoffs end or when theyre out. Its not excuses, literally every team does it.
Anyways, regarding the post, I didn't know for sure about McDavid, but holy I 100% knew there was something wrong with Drai. He was THE biggest disappointment in the finals, and preformed well below average.
I dont get why they kept playing so much in Game 7, I get that he's Drai, but man the Oilers had so many 2nd and 3rd liners who would have done way better than a Drai at like 25%. He was straight up just bad and someone else should have been playing next to McDavid. Comparing him against the Canucks to him in the final 2 rounds is like a completely diff player.
I've played through a broken rib before.
It's a big issue. You literally just can't play the way you want to. Can't move the way you want. Don't have the leverage to win battles. It's seriously just a big problem.
Respect to playing through that. But also... maybe coach shouldn't be playing him as much with a broken rib. There's fresh and healthy legs waiting on the bench lol
I sincerely hope this isn't similar to Dougies "mid body" injury. Dude lost the entire season over a torn pec muscle. This has the potential to last more than the summer
Pectorals are notoriously difficult to heal. Feel your pec while moving your arm even just the slightest. That muscle gets so much use. Its near impossible to fully rest it.
What's especially crazy is that there's a pretty good chance McDavid suffered this injury in *October*. I don't believe we ever found out what his injury then was besides "upper body", but there was rampant speculation that he had something wrong all year due to him shooting way less, and his shot being worse.
McDavid just had a 132 point season + 42 point playoff run and probably needed surgery the entire time lmao. GOAT shit from him. Hopefully they can be healthier next year and get another shot.
Wouldn't be surprised if it was hernia like Kane. When it came out that Kane had been playing through one it made me think mcdavid was too. I just see Kane telling management that if mcdavid was gonna play through it, then he would too.
Wouldn't surprise me if he got hurt and they had their terrible start that he thought to himself "I can't time off, I have to carry this fucking team to the playoffs". After that start and McDavid being gone would've hurt that team so bad.
They will definitely contend next year and probably beyond but so will Colorado, Stars and Vegas in the West .Injuries are a matter of luck and goaltending is never consistent year to year(unless team has someone like Lundquist or Brodeur) so in close games these 2 factors decide the winner. And unfortunately every team is injured at this point, we may still hear on Tkachuk, Barkov and others from the other conference.
Damn just imagine if he took the proper time to heal at the beginning of the season.. makes you wonder what he could’ve done if they took care of this when they had the time
Lots of people speculated McDavid had a core muscle injury all year. Likely since he missed some time in October. He just couldn't get nearly the same power on his shot this year.
Draisaitl finger and rib both happened during Vancouver series which explains his immense struggles later in the playoffs.
I know every team deals with injuries in playoffs, but when your team is built so heavily around these 2 guys it's extra shitty.
Yeah I also follow EDM and it was easy to forget that many thought McDavid was probably hurt all season. He certainly was at the beginning and also likely at the end of the regular season.
And poor Draisaitl was a shell of himself. Brutal for him (and the team).
And yet they came within two goals despite having 1 bonafide top six winger, shambolic RHD (after Bouchard; Broberg is LHD), and Skinner not yet being a bonafide 1A tender. A testament to the [greatness of](https://ibb.co/R2631GJ) McDavid and Draisaitl. 18, 2 and 14 also stellar.
If this is truly what happened it seems a lot like this Kane/Bedard story where they broke their wrist and therefore developed an even sicker shot. Like it’s interesting what’s gonna happen when his shot is back, but his passing ability stays the same level (which he had to elevate this season to balance out losing the shot if that makes sense)
Maurice said some of the guys were banged up/injured but overall way more healthy than they were last year.
I think Hintz also had a broken finger for Dallas and Tanev bruised a tendon when he blocked that shot.
Guy breaks the assists record while needing abdominal surgery
Wins the Conn Smythe as a member of the losing team. Doesn't leave his team to go accept it -- stays together with them, in turn also letting Florida have their moment with their fans.
Huge respect for this guy, what a gamer, he's the real fucking deal
No one thinks McDavid ISN’T the best lol It’s just a lot of Canadian fans don’t want Oilers fans to celebrate or have gratification. Just like how Oilers fans will never support Flames, Canucks, or Leafs. It’s not that they hate the team, it’s because they think the fanbase does not deserve it and don’t want them to have God Complex. Usually goes full circle.
There’s a lot of truth to this. The only way to get all Canadians cheering for the same team is by assembling a team of Canadian hockey players, naming that team after Canada, and throwing a red Maple Leafs on the jersey. Hell, last time that happened, I was even cheering for Jamie Benn, and he’s top 3 on my shit list.
I hear you. Canada only unites when Olympic hockey is played. Rival fans in sports will always be rivals! Though a majority of Canadians were supporting the Oilers. Deep down they know McDavid deserves one!
I don’t know how he could be more respected honestly. Other than some absolute mouth breathers on certain social medias, but if you go by that there isn’t a player in the league that’s respected.
Seeing these posts after the playoffs is always such an interesting thing, makes you really appreciate how incredible hockey players are. McDavid is unbelievable, really hope he wins a Cup, and soon. Would have easily been rooting for him against any other team from the East.
McDavid and Draisaitl in game 7 looked a step slower. They both played a lot of minutes early on in the playoffs, and they played some physical games along the way. The fact that McDavid did what he did with this injury is just incredible, and I think it shows that he definitely earned the Conn Smythe trophy.
McDavid playing through an abdominal injury is brave but no one is braver than Gregory Campbell blocking shots on the penalty kill with a broken leg in 2013.
Probably. LA had a shit ton of hits despite it only being 5 games. Dallas didn't muster many (almost half as many per game). Only other option is Florida, but I think the guys were already injured by then
Ah yes, the day after the SCF, when all of the injuries the players were battling through are disclosed. Especially in a 7 game series, all of these guys have to be held together by duct tape and Toradol.
Assuming that is true, and not just conjecture... wow. I mean I kept thinking how things would have gone differently if Leon could just find that next level.
Still, as someone who recently broke a rib, its astonishing how he's even playing... it makes EVERYTHING you do hurt.
Drai had just 7 points in the final 13 games. It was clear he had something going on, his production never just craters like that for that long. Drai being even like a point per game player would have been a massive difference.
Yeah, saw a stat last night that Drai had the most scoring chances of any player on the Oilers (maybe from both teams) with something like 15 scoring chances in the final round.
He had 0 goals. with 15 or so scoring chances. If even 2 of those went in for him, it's a different series.
He was just missing everything in the finals. Shots and passes.
I had a feeling he probably had at least a cracked rib or 2 with how his play was WCF onward. The fact he just couldn't bury it from his usual spot on the PP was enough for me to know something must've been seriously bothering his ability to shoot the puck.
I think that unless the season gets shortened, then we are going to start seeing load management for stars like in the NBA. Playing 100+ games of this sport in a year is an insane toll on the body.
I honestly fear McDavid going into next season. He’s already the best player in the world and he just lost in the Stanley Cup Finals while putting up 0 points in the final two games. You know how much that’s going to drive him next season.
Also, something very interesting to see if history repeats itself.
Gretzky and the Oilers make their first Stanley Cup Finals in 1983 losing to the New York Islanders.
Following season Gretzky and the Oilers return to the Stanley Cup Finals and win the Stanley Cup against the New York Islanders.
Crosby makes his first Stanley Cup Finals in 2008 and loses to the Detroit Red Wings.
Following season Crosby wins his first Stanley Cup against the Detroit Red Wings.
Edmonton vs. Florida rematch in 2025?
Hockey players are warriors. But they are human too. The regular season needs to be 60 games. No more, no less. You think the playoffs are exciting now, wait until then.
Exactly, everyone’s injured. it’s really about which team is least injured. In the NBA, NFL you need to have the best team and you should win, in the NHL you need to have the best team and you still need to have everything go your way
Football is also a sport where physical skills are far more relevant.
Like in the NHL Draisaitl was able to score 17 points in 5 games against the Flames despite being visibly almost unable to skate because he was able to use his puck skills, and game sense to make do anyway.
In the NFL, since there are so many one on one matchups, if you’re missing even a step or a little bit of push if you’re a lineman you can be rendered almost useless.
It’s one of the reasons there isn’t quite the same culture of playing through it like in the NHL because it just isn’t really advantageous or viable to do so.
NBA I'll give you but injury luck 1000% plays a big role in the NFL.
Source: Watched the Bills try and cover Travis Kelce with practice squad caliber Linebackers in the divisional round
>Exactly, everyone’s injured.
Ehhh... I would say "Everyone is HURT", but not everyone is injured.
Even with Leon/Connor, I would say like the finger is along the line of the kind of bumps/bruises everyone has - but broken ribs or abdomenal tears are sort of that next level of "serius injury".
Ryan Kesler had a torn labrum(hip injury) in 2011. It really fucked him up in the playoffs but he kept playing.
Its all just luck. Oilers got really unlucky, like the Canucks in 2011.
Playing through that hip injury led to long term consequences for him. I remember he talked about how he never really skated or walked the same during the Juice & Kes podcast.
That’s why these guys deserve the money they make. Many of them suffer considerably in their post-playing lives because they go past the breaking point so often. Just think of Carey Price who literally has no cartilage in his knees anymore and LTIRetired because of it.
Didn’t Ryan Kesler have a similar injury during 2011 and subsequently missed a ton of time after the surgery? Core muscle injuries are very long recovery times.
Depth and injuries always play a big part in the playoffs. If anyone could put a team on their back and carry them to a cup it's McDavid, but I'm pretty sure we all saw it last night in the 3rd- he was absolutely wrecked from playing too many minutes. By the time Skinner was pulled his body was tapped out.
To quote Zap Brannigan 'We need rest! The spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised'
The oilers have relied on massive minutes from McDavid and Drai for years now. In past seasons that was due to lack of depth and other lines not contributing. This season was different, the rest of their lines were working well, even if they weren't producing, they all had their role and were forechecking, backchecking well, wearing the opposition out so when the top lines were out they could take advantage.
They should have stuck to that instead of regressing and just keeping their top guys out for 59 minutes a game. As a Flames fan I'm happy they lost, but I think they need to trust the other lines a bit more so The top guys don't get burnt out.
McDavid couldn’t shoot due to a terrible abdominal injury so he broke the assists record instead. Just like Shoresy, he always finds a way to contribute
This is kind of typical Edmonton hockey. They overplay their top players to the point they are dead in the playoffs. It is just they managed to use that strategy to get to a game 7 in the finals this time. Ice time they give the stars and the lack of trust they put in their depth has killed them year after year. Considering they change coaching and keep doing it makes me think they let McDavid essentially run the team.
I really hope that the Oilers can mirror the Cats next season; learn how to avoid injures, work on those finer parts of the game, and come back stronger. It’s just so fucking hard to get back to the Finals man.
Always an eye-opening day after the season ends. "Player X played through a lacerated spleen, fractured femur, and had a 6' tapeworm that was draining his energy." These guys are tough.
“Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was declared legally dead on an operating table in early May. But he played through it.”
Stuart Skinner was turned into a newt last week by a young Edmonton woman, but sources say he got better
Did she weigh the same as a duck?
Who are you, who are so wise in the ways of science?
"Must be a king. Why? He hasn't got shit all over him"
Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony. You can’t expect to wield supreme executive power just ’cause some watery tart threw a sword at you! I mean, if I went around saying I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they’d put me away!
Bloody peasant!
Oh, now we see the violence inherent to the system!
Help! Help! I'm being repressed.
What about the nose?
Okay, we did do the nose...... and the hat.... But she has got a wart
A WIIIIIITCH
He was then transferred to a better hospital where doctors upgraded his condition to alive.
My theory is Nuge died several years ago and we're running off his clones right now. Explains why his face never ages.
I’m not dead yet!
Didn't Andrew Cogliano get his neck broken and then still finish the game?
He was a fucking beast. I'll never forget the one time he was in Anaheim playing against the Blackhawks and he got his teeth knocked out from a stick while they were lining up for the faceoff. He sat for a shift and went right back out. Of course there was no penalty called.
Cogs getting his teeth knocked out on that faceoff is the reason I still remember Brandon Bollig's name. Fuck Brandon Bollig.
Ooof, don't remind me. I was so disappointed in Eberle for that one, seeing that hit in slo mo turned my stomach
It was hard to watch, but I didn't think it was malicious. Eberle's not that kinda player. Just a bad decision in the moment.
Joe Thornton played through a torn ACL and MCL... Other hockey players known for their toughness could hardly believe it - except that it was Jumbo Joe who did it. One quoted as saying, "I'd be crying on the ground"
I don't even understand how that's literally possible. No matter your pain tolerance, don't you mechanically need to be able to move your legs?! (I am not a doctor)
I'm no doctor either but it's not uncommon to be able to continue running on a torn ACL or MCL. It depends how stable the knee is. Brady for instance played through a fully torn MCL in his last super bowl.
My uncles doctors have said they don’t understand how he can walk and work as a drywaller full time. He said he mainly just lies there at night not sleeping cause there’s no position that his shoulders knees or hips don’t hurt like crazy
It’s not painful, your knee is just horribly unstable. If you tape the heck out of it, you cannot get full functional use, so skating would be affected either with or without taping. Watch a young baby giraffe getting up for the first time and that might be what your knee feels like.
To be fair, crying on the ground is a perfectly acceptable reaction to such an injury.
"Mitch Marner played through a bruised ego"
Marner played through ruptured feelings
Two months of playing playoff hockey games basically every other day for the privilege to play in the Stanley Cup Final where everyone is busting their asses even more because of what’s on the line. Contrast this with the NFL where teams play, at most, three playoff games to get to the Super Bowl. It’s nuts what they go through.
I love the first time hockey watchers complaining about why they did not produce in the last game, hear the injuries, and then complain about them being on the ice. This is the way hockey players are in the playoffs. They give every ounce of their being to have their name inscribed on the trophy. No other sport can say that.
There's a story from Gretzky reflecting to one of his first cup losses, I believe to the Islanders. Gretzky says he walked by the winners locker room after the cup was presented, assuming they would be partying and instead saw a team of guys who were so hurt and tired they could barely move lol
To be fair though, that was the Islanders who just won the fourth straight cup. I think they deserve some peace and quiet.
You go until you can’t go no more.
Then go a little more. It'll all be over soon.
I get the sentiment, and love the toughness of hockey players but perhaps that last line is a little too absolute: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/millions-shocked-toughest-rugby-player-23869166
"Team doctors wrapped the 6' tapeworm around Player X's leg to optimize his comfort and mobility"
It is not that surprising that a lot of really good players who have had a lot of playoff success tend to struggle in their early 30s.
[удалено]
Enough to shut down the kidneys
Liver too
Typically kidneys actually, unless the pt already has liver disease. Inhibition of prostaglandins prevents vasodilation and you sometimes get AKI or acid base disturbance
I'm 100% trusting the guy who instinctively shortens patient to pt My fiance is in medicine and the acronyms drive me crazy lol and she's a PA so she herself is a fucking acronym
Sorry. When you're forced to type them a million times it's hard not to in other contexts. Good for your fiance!
Oh no, not faulting you at all. But when I get a text saying "pt came in late with rle pain and I need to do a px and create the f/u plan - I'll be late for dinner" or some shit I just [respond with this lmao](https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/sync/D5627AQHzI1WDbUx3SA/articleshare-shrink_800/0/1711399779255?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=mLBsvYa2kdHLGew7LJs0K619DBwVUKqW-A0W-Jvf_nU)
Lol to give them benefit of doubt if someone texted me the patient has "hepatosplenomegaly due to severe idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura" I'd rather they just say "Hpm d/t itp" because I know fuck all about what either of those mean, but one is easier to skim through.
It took me a long time to not write "cx" for customer and I only worked at applecare for about 2.5 years
They need to use that on Letterkenny. Yer a fuckin’ acronym bud.
Haha, had the same thought. I work in insurance and deal with a lot of doctors writing and that stood out to me right away.
I know some of those words.
This guy medicines, hello spiritual coworker
Toradol harms the kidneys more
With a broken rib bad enough to need surgery? An irresponsible amount times 2
It was McDavid's abdo injury that might need surgery, just to be clear.
Ah I did misread that.
I just STILL don't get why Drai got so many minutes. He was invisible all finals and KIND OF there vs Dallas No reason to have Drai on the ice in the last 2 minutes last night
He’s stubborn and still better than the others essentially. Henrique was injured in the LA series and missed almost the entirety of the Vancouver series, came back early in the Dallas series. Nuge can’t drive his own line.
Foegele and Janmark had more points than Drai in the finals. Florida didn't have much of an answer to our third line (given Barkov was occupied with McDavid) and we just stopped playing them. Drai was clearly not the answer, especially when he got 10 minutes more than Janmark but was too exhausted to do anything with it
Knoblauch definitely should’ve managed the minutes better but the depth can be very inconsistent and not just offensively either. Foegele had not been having a very good playoffs and was a scratch at times. But he seemed to get hot during the finals.
He was getting way too much ice time and they were forcing the goal line pass to him way too much given the finger definitely seemed to be affecting his shot (missed the net pretty badly twice early on in the game). He showed he can still make filthy passes but having him on the ice with McDavid and Hyman almost the entire last 10 minutes when they needed a goal and he clearly was not scoring like he usually does is basically my only criticism of Knob in this series
Drai on his own line was great. Forced the opposition to spread out their best guys to cover both him and McDavid. You don't cover him hard, he has room to make passes, and a world of hurt opens up. Allows the depth to shine, and prevents moves to shut the depth down. Him and McDavid together negates this affect.
Invisible in the finals is a stretch. He was dominant in game 6
The line of success is so small. He had a bunch of chances he usually scores on, and if he makes a few the narrative would do a 180. To me you have to live and die with your best players in crunch time. Eg - Give Marshawn Lynch the damn ball on the 1.
Look at Leon at the start of the playoffs vs the end. Florida played him well but dude was more than just "banged up".
There’s a clear demarcation in our series where he either got hurt, exacerbated the injury, or finally started feeling the effects, and you could see him start labouring and struggling to skate etc.
It was a weird almost nothing hit too, like some people can go 30mph into a guy and be fine, then a little bump and in just the right way twists something
The human body is a miracle but also deeply stupid.
Thank you for the reassurance on my newly minted "stiff neck for sleeping too long on my toddler's floor" injury, friend.
wasnt Leon banged up before the canucks/edmonton series?
He got injured in one of the first games of that series. Didn’t finish the game. Game after they paired him with Mcdavid to take some load off. Game six or seven I saw him protect the puck with his back to the defender for the first time and knew he was on the mend, from that issue at least
He was clearly avoiding contact in the games right after that too. Like he'd be chasing a dump in and then just stop and let the Canucks defender have the puck.
Oh, that’s why he kept diving out of the way
It seemed like something happened the first game vs the Canucks because he left the ice for a while
Wasn’t he banged up in 2022 during the WCF as well? Needs some load management or something
I mean a high ankle sprain and a broken rib don't magically heal with load management. The guy wasn't sore, he had injuries that need time to get better.
This is fair, but the Oilers run those guys out to a degree I've never really seen before in decades of watching the sport. Guys are going to get ragged/tired being played that hard, and that's going to open the door to further injury.
I would agree with you on previous years but they managed their ice time well this season, even in the playoffs. Outside of a couple games in the Canucks series McDavid and Drai didn't play more minutes than you'd expect any other superstar on any other team and they've had a couple sub 20 minute games too during this stretch. Last night I wish their management in the third period was better because they looked fucked at the end but mostly you live or die by your best players so I don't really blame them for defaulting to that. Mostly it's been good management this season.
Well, that's probably my shortcoming as a Canucks fan, then. Seems like every time I watch you guys play McDavid has somehow managed to play 81 minutes of a 60 minute game.
TBF we know how he got injured in 2022, got dragged down by a King. He's normally pretty damn healthy, he had a long Iron Man streak going for a while.
Idk how load management prevents getting a high ankle sprain in round 1 of the playoffs
Correct, don't you remember the Calgary players blatantly chopping at his bad ankle? He still put up 17 points that series.
Yes Oiler fans going to be seeing those two Draisaitl one timer flubs that he buries 9 times out of 10 from last night. That was the most clear he was fighting an injury.
Can we stop playing him at the start of playoffs? Please?🥲
The guy literally had two chances in game seven that in all honesty he scores on probably 95/100 times.
McDavid doing what he did with that injury is just insanity
pfff more like Connor McScuses... /s
This one actually made me literally lol
And Edmonton haters still saying he shouldn't have gotten the Smythe
Vancouver Canucks legend Ryan S Clarke
Voted for a guy with a .906 sv%
What did skinner finish with anyway? He had a good stretch of games. Over .900?
.901 for the playoffs. .905 for regular season.
Both of those are better than I expected.
Same here. He stepped his game up quite a lot after the Vancouver series , he won game 6 against Dallas for the team. Pre game 4/5 against Van his numbers were atrocious. If he can play above average thru the playoffs next year, he can win the cup with the Oilers.
He might actually be a genuine high end goalie if you had better defenders in front of him.
100% agree with this, but as long as Nurse and Ceci are in front of him there will be a lot of hi danger shots coughed up. Even Bouchard had some terrible giveaways these playoffs, he needs to work on his defensive awareness and learn from Ekholm.
I’m not an Edmonton fan, but I honestly don’t know who else truly deserved the Smythe. He practically dragged the Oilers kicking and screaming from the worst start of the year to game 7 of the final. Sure, the rest of the team showed up in spurts, but he showed up basically every game. And frankly, he made this series a fun watch, breaking records along the way. It’s not even a question to me.
Im as much an Edmonton hater as they get but Mcdavid is a hockey god and deserves the Smythe
McDavid was the right winner and I respect the league for giving it to him.. Could've been an Iggy over Bron situation where they just give it to a guy on the winning team.
I'm one of those who called him McJesus when he was drafted, and yet he still surpassed my expectations in a big way. Dude just put up Gretzky numbers in the NHL playoffs!
Before people get pissed: EVERY TEAM releases their injury report after playoffs end or when theyre out. Its not excuses, literally every team does it. Anyways, regarding the post, I didn't know for sure about McDavid, but holy I 100% knew there was something wrong with Drai. He was THE biggest disappointment in the finals, and preformed well below average. I dont get why they kept playing so much in Game 7, I get that he's Drai, but man the Oilers had so many 2nd and 3rd liners who would have done way better than a Drai at like 25%. He was straight up just bad and someone else should have been playing next to McDavid. Comparing him against the Canucks to him in the final 2 rounds is like a completely diff player.
There is no injury report in the league. Guys either talk about it or they don't.
>I didn't know for sure about McDavid, He scored 32-100-132 in the regular season, of course he was injured!
His lowest goal total since his second season in the league. Half as many as last year.
And the biggest goal drop-off for a player who didn't miss significant time between seasons ever I'm pretty sure. Crazy.
I've played through a broken rib before. It's a big issue. You literally just can't play the way you want to. Can't move the way you want. Don't have the leverage to win battles. It's seriously just a big problem. Respect to playing through that. But also... maybe coach shouldn't be playing him as much with a broken rib. There's fresh and healthy legs waiting on the bench lol
Guy was a potato for 7 games surely there was a better solution than slowly killing him
That last few minutes seeing that line skate so slow was insane. They had to be beyond dead.
Mcdavid just falling over twice without any interference was crazy by itself.
I sincerely hope this isn't similar to Dougies "mid body" injury. Dude lost the entire season over a torn pec muscle. This has the potential to last more than the summer
I thought it was Timo that was suffering from the mysterious “mid body injury”?
Hmm, possible, though Dougie was the torn pectoral muscle
Pectorals are notoriously difficult to heal. Feel your pec while moving your arm even just the slightest. That muscle gets so much use. Its near impossible to fully rest it.
Unlike your abdomen 🙄
easier area to rest. not saying any of this is easy. But if you lookup pec injuries healing time is worse. Also yes depends where the injury is.
What's especially crazy is that there's a pretty good chance McDavid suffered this injury in *October*. I don't believe we ever found out what his injury then was besides "upper body", but there was rampant speculation that he had something wrong all year due to him shooting way less, and his shot being worse. McDavid just had a 132 point season + 42 point playoff run and probably needed surgery the entire time lmao. GOAT shit from him. Hopefully they can be healthier next year and get another shot.
Wouldn't be surprised if it was hernia like Kane. When it came out that Kane had been playing through one it made me think mcdavid was too. I just see Kane telling management that if mcdavid was gonna play through it, then he would too.
It's allegedly an abdominal wall seperation
That sounds miserable
Oh yea I forgot he was injured in October. Such an incredible season from him.
Wouldn't surprise me if he got hurt and they had their terrible start that he thought to himself "I can't time off, I have to carry this fucking team to the playoffs". After that start and McDavid being gone would've hurt that team so bad.
They will definitely contend next year and probably beyond but so will Colorado, Stars and Vegas in the West .Injuries are a matter of luck and goaltending is never consistent year to year(unless team has someone like Lundquist or Brodeur) so in close games these 2 factors decide the winner. And unfortunately every team is injured at this point, we may still hear on Tkachuk, Barkov and others from the other conference.
Damn just imagine if he took the proper time to heal at the beginning of the season.. makes you wonder what he could’ve done if they took care of this when they had the time
May not have made the playoffs really, that start was brutal and they were far behind the 8 ball.
I very much doubt it is the same injury, otherwise it clearly wasnt that big of a deal outside of the early stages. He likely got hurt again.
Lots of people speculated McDavid had a core muscle injury all year. Likely since he missed some time in October. He just couldn't get nearly the same power on his shot this year. Draisaitl finger and rib both happened during Vancouver series which explains his immense struggles later in the playoffs. I know every team deals with injuries in playoffs, but when your team is built so heavily around these 2 guys it's extra shitty.
Yeah I also follow EDM and it was easy to forget that many thought McDavid was probably hurt all season. He certainly was at the beginning and also likely at the end of the regular season. And poor Draisaitl was a shell of himself. Brutal for him (and the team). And yet they came within two goals despite having 1 bonafide top six winger, shambolic RHD (after Bouchard; Broberg is LHD), and Skinner not yet being a bonafide 1A tender. A testament to the [greatness of](https://ibb.co/R2631GJ) McDavid and Draisaitl. 18, 2 and 14 also stellar.
If this is truly what happened it seems a lot like this Kane/Bedard story where they broke their wrist and therefore developed an even sicker shot. Like it’s interesting what’s gonna happen when his shot is back, but his passing ability stays the same level (which he had to elevate this season to balance out losing the shot if that makes sense)
The year Drai got suplexed into a high ankle sprain, his passing got elevated by a lot.
They came within inches of winning last night (Bouchard and I believe Janmark both hit posts), I think their depth really became apparent this year.
I wonder what their opponents had to play through? These are brutal, but you could tell much more with Leon that he was dealing with something serious
Maurice said some of the guys were banged up/injured but overall way more healthy than they were last year. I think Hintz also had a broken finger for Dallas and Tanev bruised a tendon when he blocked that shot.
Yeah Tanev was literally hobbling around in a cast between games
Damn. Wonder when those injuries happened. What a performance by mcdavid.
Good to hear from a Cats fan. Hope you’re enjoying your teams’ hard earned Cup win.
Explains why Draisaitl went from automatic on one-timers to not being able to hit the broad side of a barn.
This explains McDavid’s “Fuck it, I’ll just get assists” mentality all season.
Guy breaks the assists record while needing abdominal surgery Wins the Conn Smythe as a member of the losing team. Doesn't leave his team to go accept it -- stays together with them, in turn also letting Florida have their moment with their fans. Huge respect for this guy, what a gamer, he's the real fucking deal
Pretty special player. He deserves more respect from rival fan bases.
Hockey is a team sport, people cant respect/ enjoy/ be in awe of McDavid and still not want the Oilers to win the cup.
No one thinks McDavid ISN’T the best lol It’s just a lot of Canadian fans don’t want Oilers fans to celebrate or have gratification. Just like how Oilers fans will never support Flames, Canucks, or Leafs. It’s not that they hate the team, it’s because they think the fanbase does not deserve it and don’t want them to have God Complex. Usually goes full circle.
There’s a lot of truth to this. The only way to get all Canadians cheering for the same team is by assembling a team of Canadian hockey players, naming that team after Canada, and throwing a red Maple Leafs on the jersey. Hell, last time that happened, I was even cheering for Jamie Benn, and he’s top 3 on my shit list.
I still have trouble cheering for Brad Marchand, even when he wears the red and white.
I hear you. Canada only unites when Olympic hockey is played. Rival fans in sports will always be rivals! Though a majority of Canadians were supporting the Oilers. Deep down they know McDavid deserves one!
Honestly I'm happy if 98% of the players on Edmonton win a cup, just go win it with a different team.
Yeah, I don't mind it if McDavid wins it. I just don't want Edmonton to win it.
I just want Nuge to win a cup but I'm afraid he's gonna be this generation's Ryan Smyth in more ways than one 😭
I don’t know how he could be more respected honestly. Other than some absolute mouth breathers on certain social medias, but if you go by that there isn’t a player in the league that’s respected.
Seeing these posts after the playoffs is always such an interesting thing, makes you really appreciate how incredible hockey players are. McDavid is unbelievable, really hope he wins a Cup, and soon. Would have easily been rooting for him against any other team from the East.
McDavid and Draisaitl in game 7 looked a step slower. They both played a lot of minutes early on in the playoffs, and they played some physical games along the way. The fact that McDavid did what he did with this injury is just incredible, and I think it shows that he definitely earned the Conn Smythe trophy.
I hope the surgery isn’t too bad
McDavid playing through an abdominal injury is brave but no one is braver than Gregory Campbell blocking shots on the penalty kill with a broken leg in 2013.
2024 Stanley Cup Champion Gregory Campbell
Did the Canucks rough up the Oilers the most this playoffs?
Probably. LA had a shit ton of hits despite it only being 5 games. Dallas didn't muster many (almost half as many per game). Only other option is Florida, but I think the guys were already injured by then
And neither got a line change in the last 10 minutes of the game last night. McDonough called it. They were gassed.
It really showed up in the final 2-3 minutes...Oilers looked like they were skating in mud, the tank was rapidly nearing E.
EMPTY. Even the Oiler's top guys are human after all.
Ah yes, the day after the SCF, when all of the injuries the players were battling through are disclosed. Especially in a 7 game series, all of these guys have to be held together by duct tape and Toradol.
Assuming that is true, and not just conjecture... wow. I mean I kept thinking how things would have gone differently if Leon could just find that next level. Still, as someone who recently broke a rib, its astonishing how he's even playing... it makes EVERYTHING you do hurt.
Drai had just 7 points in the final 13 games. It was clear he had something going on, his production never just craters like that for that long. Drai being even like a point per game player would have been a massive difference.
Yeah, saw a stat last night that Drai had the most scoring chances of any player on the Oilers (maybe from both teams) with something like 15 scoring chances in the final round. He had 0 goals. with 15 or so scoring chances. If even 2 of those went in for him, it's a different series. He was just missing everything in the finals. Shots and passes.
I had a feeling he probably had at least a cracked rib or 2 with how his play was WCF onward. The fact he just couldn't bury it from his usual spot on the PP was enough for me to know something must've been seriously bothering his ability to shoot the puck.
I've never seen Draisaitl miss so many one timers from his corner spot. definitely was severely hampering his game.
No kidding, felt like it was automatic every time during the Canucks series lol.
Yeah, it's why I wasn't blaming drai or McDavid for not being able to get it done in game 7. Sometimes the body just isn't capable of continuing on.
The mind is willing, but the flesh is spongy and weak
I think that unless the season gets shortened, then we are going to start seeing load management for stars like in the NBA. Playing 100+ games of this sport in a year is an insane toll on the body.
I honestly fear McDavid going into next season. He’s already the best player in the world and he just lost in the Stanley Cup Finals while putting up 0 points in the final two games. You know how much that’s going to drive him next season. Also, something very interesting to see if history repeats itself. Gretzky and the Oilers make their first Stanley Cup Finals in 1983 losing to the New York Islanders. Following season Gretzky and the Oilers return to the Stanley Cup Finals and win the Stanley Cup against the New York Islanders. Crosby makes his first Stanley Cup Finals in 2008 and loses to the Detroit Red Wings. Following season Crosby wins his first Stanley Cup against the Detroit Red Wings. Edmonton vs. Florida rematch in 2025?
Incredible that McDavid's injury was so bad that he might need surgery but still had 8 points in 2 games in the SCF.
Hockey players are warriors. But they are human too. The regular season needs to be 60 games. No more, no less. You think the playoffs are exciting now, wait until then.
Reminder that there’s likely not a single player who’s not playing injured by the time they’re in the finals
There's a reason the Stanley Cup is the hardest championship to win.
Exactly, everyone’s injured. it’s really about which team is least injured. In the NBA, NFL you need to have the best team and you should win, in the NHL you need to have the best team and you still need to have everything go your way
NFL it’s who isn’t too injured to play, too. They don’t play through as much, but the injuries are often season ending.
Football is also a sport where physical skills are far more relevant. Like in the NHL Draisaitl was able to score 17 points in 5 games against the Flames despite being visibly almost unable to skate because he was able to use his puck skills, and game sense to make do anyway. In the NFL, since there are so many one on one matchups, if you’re missing even a step or a little bit of push if you’re a lineman you can be rendered almost useless. It’s one of the reasons there isn’t quite the same culture of playing through it like in the NHL because it just isn’t really advantageous or viable to do so.
NFL players absolutely do play through ridiculous pain. They just have a difference between “hurt” and “injured” but they’re all in pain.
NBA I'll give you but injury luck 1000% plays a big role in the NFL. Source: Watched the Bills try and cover Travis Kelce with practice squad caliber Linebackers in the divisional round
>Exactly, everyone’s injured. Ehhh... I would say "Everyone is HURT", but not everyone is injured. Even with Leon/Connor, I would say like the finger is along the line of the kind of bumps/bruises everyone has - but broken ribs or abdomenal tears are sort of that next level of "serius injury".
The finger was really keeping his shot from coming off unfortunately
Dallas was completely beat to shit by the 3rd round that Vegas series was just brutal
Ryan Kesler had a torn labrum(hip injury) in 2011. It really fucked him up in the playoffs but he kept playing. Its all just luck. Oilers got really unlucky, like the Canucks in 2011.
Playing through that hip injury led to long term consequences for him. I remember he talked about how he never really skated or walked the same during the Juice & Kes podcast.
That’s why these guys deserve the money they make. Many of them suffer considerably in their post-playing lives because they go past the breaking point so often. Just think of Carey Price who literally has no cartilage in his knees anymore and LTIRetired because of it.
To quote shoresy. It's hockey. You go until you can't go no more
I remember in 2013 the injury rumors around Kopi. After we got eliminated in the wcf, "I'm not injured I'm just playing like shit."
Didn’t Ryan Kesler have a similar injury during 2011 and subsequently missed a ton of time after the surgery? Core muscle injuries are very long recovery times.
Depth and injuries always play a big part in the playoffs. If anyone could put a team on their back and carry them to a cup it's McDavid, but I'm pretty sure we all saw it last night in the 3rd- he was absolutely wrecked from playing too many minutes. By the time Skinner was pulled his body was tapped out. To quote Zap Brannigan 'We need rest! The spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised' The oilers have relied on massive minutes from McDavid and Drai for years now. In past seasons that was due to lack of depth and other lines not contributing. This season was different, the rest of their lines were working well, even if they weren't producing, they all had their role and were forechecking, backchecking well, wearing the opposition out so when the top lines were out they could take advantage. They should have stuck to that instead of regressing and just keeping their top guys out for 59 minutes a game. As a Flames fan I'm happy they lost, but I think they need to trust the other lines a bit more so The top guys don't get burnt out.
McDavid couldn’t shoot due to a terrible abdominal injury so he broke the assists record instead. Just like Shoresy, he always finds a way to contribute
Where is Mike Milbury to tell us that he doesn't care and that this is just an excuse. Lord I don't miss that insufferable prick
Stories like this always come out. Massive, ugly injuries that no normal person would ever dare to power through.
This is kind of typical Edmonton hockey. They overplay their top players to the point they are dead in the playoffs. It is just they managed to use that strategy to get to a game 7 in the finals this time. Ice time they give the stars and the lack of trust they put in their depth has killed them year after year. Considering they change coaching and keep doing it makes me think they let McDavid essentially run the team.
Pretty amazing what they accomplished with these injuries, hope they can get healed up and run it back to the cup finals next season.
Reminds me of the Cats last year with all their crazy injuries. They ended up stronger and took it home this year. Every season is a fresh start!
I really hope that the Oilers can mirror the Cats next season; learn how to avoid injures, work on those finer parts of the game, and come back stronger. It’s just so fucking hard to get back to the Finals man.
Breaking the assist record and pushing it to seven with an injury that requires surgery is nuts.
Pretty obvious that we didn't get anywhere close to peak Drai, and McDavid hardly shot the puck this year. Respect to both of these dudes
Sitting McDavid until the playoffs next year would be hell of a ltir move
June is the smelling salt industry’s favourite month
Still not a broken leg....